Give your loved one the credit they deserve, make them a Producer!

When this project started there were only two people involved, Andrew and I, but now two years later, our family of producers has swelled to around 200 and we’ve got great news for everyone. Having just submitted our most recent cut of the film to SXSW in Austin TX, we’re very happy to announce that we’re opening presales for the film on the site, with the official launch having been set for February 12, 2011. We’ll mark the occasion with a special screening of the film in Vancouver where you’ll be able to come pick up your copy on DVD or USB key, with traditional shipping options available to those who can’t make it. We’re also very excited about our exclusive WGH Producer’s Package which we think is a thoughtful alternative that some people on your list will definitely appreciate receiving this holiday season.

This handsome package includes:

An official Producer’s certificate and name in the film’s credits

A certificate confirming your $5 contribution to the construction of a wireless mesh network in the Downtown Eastside

A ticket to the February 12th, 2011 screening and afterparty at W2

One copy of the completed film on DVD or USB

To show our appreciation for the support you’ve already provided, we’re giving all existing producers a 10% discount off any purchases you make on the site, so don’t miss this limited time opportunity to share your involvement with this project with your friends and family.

Attention World!! You are invited to join us at the With Glowing Hearts Unfestival 2010 presented by W2 Storyeum!

What’s an Unfestival? Well, we’re giving you a chance to see a “work-in-progress” cut of the film, as well as getting involved in some fundraising to help us complete it. We’ll have an exciting variety of silent auction items for you to bid on, as well as an opportunity to become a ‘producer’ on the film and have input into the final version!

With Glowing Hearts, is a feature length documentary which focuses on the way activists and artists in Vancouver used social media during the Olympics to affect social change and bring down barriers.

We are in our final stage of post production and need to prepare for broadcast and distribution. We have managed to get to this point with many contributions from numerous people but still have a few hurdles like insurance, music rights, publicty and people’s wages which are hard cash costs that can’t be avoided.

Unfestival Schedule:

4 pm free community screening, all are welcome

An evening fundraising screening starting at 7pm, which includes silent auction and the opportunity to become a ‘producer’. The price of your admission will also get you listed the film’s credits as a producer, but the more you contribute the larger your name will appear.

Silent auction and door prizes

There will be a producer/director Q & A after the screening, which will give you the chance to ask questions of the filmmakers, and provide feedback as we move forward to the film’s final cut!

AHA MEDIA is very proud to be in Gillian Shaw’s article “Meet a Geek” in Vancouver Sun

Gillian Shaw writes:

Got a pressing question that only a true geek can answer?

Your chance to meet a geek comes this Tuesday, September 21 at Vancouver’s first Meet the Geek event where a gourmet dinner will be served up with hearty helpings of geekery as some of the city’s top tech minds gather at The Salt Cellar to “meet, eat and give back.”

The idea behind the event, hosted by the Social Media Club Vancouver and sponsored byVancouver Food Tour, is to give the less technologically inclined a chance to get together and pose their most pressing tech questions to the experts and at the same time raise money for a worth cause.

The cause in this case is the independent documentary, With Glowing Hearts, a two-hour film that will focus on four Vancouver activists and artists living and working in the downtown eastside.

The documentary chronicles the impact of social media and how the four individuals saw their lives change through their social communities, both online and off. Among the participants is April Smith. Hers is an inspiring story that goes from a life in the streets to a life in which she has co-founded a social media company in the downtown eastside and uses her new media skills to help others.”

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will assist in the post-production of the independent Vancouver documentary “With Glowing Hearts”, which focuses on four Vancouver activists and artists living and working in the Downtown East Side and how their lives are changed through social media and community during the 2010 Winter Olympics. April Smith and AHA MEDIA are featured within this movie!

We are honored that they have chosen to donate a portion of the proceeds from this dinner to complete our film. With the cuts to arts funding in BC and Canada we have found it most difficult to get any funding from traditional methods. Our current challenge is being able to compensate our editors for their enormous time commitment, the hours/days they are putting into finishing our film. So we are really excited that SMCYVR & Vancouver Food Tour are putting on this dinner. Jon, Kemp and I will all be there so come and meet the GEEKS!

Limited to 40 registrants, the special dinner will be held Tuesday, September 21st, from 7-9pm at The Salt Cellar, and organized by Melody “Gourmet” Fury of Vancouver Food Tour.

Below Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley, one of restaurateur Sean Heather’s celebrated Gastown eateries, The Salt Cellar is a unique space which on Friday and Saturday nights doubles the capacity of Salt. SMCYVR members will be on hand to network, chat about all things geeky, and generally demystify the cloudy world of social media.

Details

$40 includes tax, tip and a contribution to the charity. Of course, you’re free to donate more if you like, and everyone who donates a Toonie or more is listed as an official Producer of the movie, which surely has got to be worth some bragging rights.

Meet at Salt Cellar, 45 Blood Alley in the basement banquet room of Salt. We’re going to be enjoying a custom menu created especially for us.

About Social Media Club VancouverLaunched in January 2010, Social Media Club Vancouver (SMCYVR) is a chapter of Social Media Club, a worldwide trade organization focusing on social media in business. Anyone is able to join Social Media Club, and we welcome volunteers to help with our organization and events. For more information, visit http://www.smcyvr.com, our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter at @SMCYVR.

AHA MEDIA was very proud to attend Paralympics Ice Sledge Hockey event at Preliminary Round Group B Game 10 Italy vs Sweden at 1:30pm at UBC Thunderbird Arena on March 16, 2010

About the Sport

Ice sledge hockey was invented at a Swedish rehabilitation centre in the early 1960s, when a group of athletes with a disability decided they wanted to continue playing hockey. The Swedes took two regular ice hockey skates and built a metal frame (called a sledge) to fit on top, with enough room for the puck to pass underneath. Using short poles to propel themselves along the ice, the men played the first ice sledge hockey match outdoors, on a lake south of Stockholm. By 1969, Stockholm had a five-team ice sledge hockey league.

Ice sledge hockey debuted at the 1994 Paralympic Winter Games in Lillehammer.How It Works

Ice sledge hockey follows all the International Ice Hockey Federation rules, with a few small modifications.

Instead of standing on skates, players sit on aluminum or steel sledges fitted with two blades. They grip two double-ended sticks, one in each hand. One end of the stick has a sharp pick that the players use to propel the sledge, the other has a curved blade to pass and shoot the puck.

Eight ice sledge hockey teams compete in round-robin tournaments, and top seeded teams from round robin play advance to the playoff rounds. A team must not have more than six players on the ice while play is in progress. The object is for one team to get the puck (a hard black rubber disc) past the other team’s goaltender and into the goal.

Below is a photo and video montage of AHA MEDIA’s Alvin Clayton and Richard Czaban’s time going to Paralympic Ice Sledge Hockey

This photo and video montage was filmed by Richard Czaban of AHA MEDIA on a New Media camera Fujifilm S200EXR. AHA MEDIA is about exploring mobile media production through New Media cameras. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter or Facebook.com/AprilFilms